Kara dreamed she was at the edge of the world. Soft puffy clouds covered the horizon, and she was flying towards the sun. This must be how birds felt, and she thought it was amazing.
White light blinded her. When she could see again, she realized she wasn’t flying through the sky at all but standing on solid ground in the penthouse on level seven.
The room looked exactly as she remembered, with soft sofas, armchairs, and plush carpets. Twenty—foot high windows ran the length of the room on all four sides, and Kara could see a black sky glinting with stars outside. She blinked through the brightness of the light in the room and felt heat on her face. It was like the luxurious apartment was floating in outer space.
“Hello again, Kara. It’s been far too long since we’ve last seen each other. How have you been?”
Kara turned and gazed into the face of an elderly man. He sat on a large sofa packed with fluffy pillows in the middle of the living room. His round face, pink cheeks, and small sparkling eyes, made Kara think of Santa Claus—except this one wore a white kimono with gold stars stitched into the fabric, and a golden belt tied around his waist. He looked like he was on his way to a spa.
The Chief cracked open a jar of olives and started to pop them in his mouth one by one.
“Uh...fine, I guess,” answered Kara. She couldn’t believe how many olives the Chief could put in his mouth all at once—it almost made him look like a grandpa chipmunk.
“I just love olives, don’t you?” said the Chief. He dabbed his thick white beard with a cloth.
Kara shrugged. “Not really. I find them too sour, and they always make me think of eyeballs—the ones with the little red parts in the middle.”
The Chief raised his bushy brows. “Never thought of them like that. Eyeballs, you say?” Twisting his face, he examined the jar as though it were the first time he’d ever laid eyes on olives before. Satisfied, he placed the jar back on the table.
“Come and sit with me, we have lots to talk about, you and me.” The Chief patted the large beige sofa beside him.
Kara walked over and let herself fall into the soft sofa. The coffee table was covered with food and drinks—rice, fried fish, chips, bags of pretzels, a large plate of vegetables and dip, gummy bears, egg rolls, licorice twizzlers, bottles of soft drinks, and a giant bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.
“Would you care for an egg roll?” the Chief grabbed a plate from the coffee table and placed it in front of Kara. “They’ve gone a little cold, but they’re still very tasty. Try one—you’ll see.”
Kara lifted her hand. “No thanks. I think I’ll pass.” She was amazed that the Chief could eat all this food. Her eyes went to his large belly, but she knew better not to ask.
“Is my mother safe?” she asked instead, her throat tightening. She had been torturing herself ever since she had left her mother’s side. Her last memories of her mother had been horrible.
“Yes, dear. She is perfectly safe—just as are all the other mortals who were infected by the dark warlock’s magic. All is well in the world of the living, once again.”
Kara sat back relieved. The mission had been a success.
The Chief placed the plate back on the table and grabbed a handful of twizzlers. After tearing a piece off one of them, he waved it like a wand and pointed it at Kara.
“Once again you’ve surprised us all with your skills, Kara. We are pleased how the events turned out, you know. It was a gamble sending you out to confront a witch and a dark warlock, but I knew you’d pull through. I’ve always known it—I’ve been watching you for a long time, and I never stopped believing in you. Besides, you were the only one who had the necessary skills to defeat the warlocks.”
Kara dropped her gaze. “So you knew about my powers as a mortal all along? I think Ariel knew that my elemental powers would surface. But why didn’t she tell me?”
Kara felt her temper rise and tried to keep her expression neutral. Had she been a pawn in the plan all along?
The Chief tore off another piece of his twizzler with his teeth. “We weren’t sure how they would materialize—or if they were going to show up at all. It was risky. The truth of the matter, Kara, is that we weren’t sure it was going to work, but it was a chance we needed to take. We weren’t sure of the consequences at the time.” He waved a twizzler at Kara. “Twizzler?”
“No thanks.”
The Chief studied Kara for a moment. “Kara, do you feel different from before?”
Kara shook her head. “No—should I?”
“When you willingly sacrificed yourself by pouring out the last of your power—when you gave your life wholeheartedly to save the mortal world—that sacrifice changed you.”
“Different how?” asked Kara cautiously.
“You are no longer elemental.”
Kara felt a sting in her chest. For a moment she just sat there, stunned. “What? But...but how can that be? I thought it was a part of me? Being elemental made me who I am? I thought it was like my third arm or something?”
“When you channeled every last bit of your elemental power into that obelisk,” said the Chief carefully, “—every last drop, so to speak, well, it killed you.”
“I figured that much.” Kara frowned. “So I’m dead.”
The Chief popped open a can of soda and gulped it down in one great sip. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Not entirely. You drained your elemental part away—that part is gone for good.”
“I don’t understand? How can I not be entirely dead?”
The old man’s eyes sparkled, and he smiled. “Just by being alive again, my dear. You will live a normal life, just like any normal mortal girl. You will have your life back.”
Kara shook her head, mystified. “So, I’m not elemental...but am I still a guardian angel?”
The Chief waved another twizzler dismissively. “We won’t be requesting your services for quite sometime, so the answer is no—for now.”
“So I won’t have any more demons trying to steal my soul, right? They’ll leave me alone now, since I’ll be normal...right?”
“That’s what I said.”
At first Kara wasn’t sure how to feel. She had been a GA with a special ability for more than a year. She had been unique, special, and even though she had been hated by most of the other guardians, she had always secretly enjoyed being different. It had been a big part of who she was—it was what made her special. And now it was gone. But Kara wasn’t sad. She was happy.
“So I won’t be able to see my friends again? When they’re guardians, and I’m not, I mean? I won’t see the supernatural anymore? I won’t see through the veil?”
“Yes and no. There are still some perks to being a retired GA—we cannot erase your essence completely.”
“And I can have a life with David,” she was almost afraid to ask, “—a normal teenage life?” It was too good to be true.
“That is not for me to decide,” said the Chief with a sparkle in his eye and the tiniest of smiles. “Who knows what the stars may bring.”
But even in this incredible moment, there was still something that bothered her.
“I know this might sound ungrateful or selfish, but may I ask you for a favor?”
The Chief smiled. “Of course, Kara dear, anything at all.”
“It’s about my sister, Lilith. I know she’s done terrible things, but she changed—she tried to save me before she died. I believe people can change and deserve a second chance. She’s dead now, killed by the warlock, and her body is just lying in the snow. It feels...wrong. She deserves better—even her.” Kara strained to compose herself.
The Chief smiled warmly. “You never cease to amaze me, Kara. But don’t worry about her, she’ll be looked after, I can promise you that.” He popped a handful of gummy bears in his mouth. “It is almost time.”
Kara screwed up her face. “Huh? Time for what?”
“I’m granting you ten minutes to say goodbye to your friends, an
d then when you wake up tomorrow morning, things will be back to normal, so to speak. You will not remember any of this.”
Kara felt like she was forgetting something. “Wait a minute. What about all the souls?”
“The souls are fine.”
“But they’re trapped inside the obelisk—”
The Chief lifted his hands to silence her.
“And now my dear, you must wake.”
Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1 Page 130